Joe Gibbs coaching tree?

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I'm a George Allen fan, but also respect and admire Joe Gibbs. One thing that I've noticed is that most of the great head coaches have had assistant coaches who have gone on to become great head coaches in their own right.

In addition to Joe Bugel, who are the other branches of the Joe Gibbs coaching tree? I know that Joe Gibbs himself was the star pupil of Don Coryell's brilliant offensive-minded football school.

But his "coaching tree" as it were I think is more so comprised of former players who have gone to serve as head coaches or coordinators. I'm talking about guys like Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, Mike Tice, Greg Manusky. And then you have position coaches like Vernon Dean and Ernest Byner.

I used to think that was the biggest knock on his legacy, that he doesn't have a strong coaching tree a la Bill Walsh. But last week, while reflecting upon Walsh's death, I thought maybe the fact that he doesn't have that strong tree is Gibbs's strength. His ability to adapt so well to the structure of his team-3 wide aerial attack or heavy jumbo, scrambling 6 ft. QB or statuesque 6'3" guy with a rocket arm, and so on-are hard to duplicate and a testament to his success as a coach.

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Coach has a decent assistant coching tree if you will, but I doubt any of the above names will pan out as a full blown HC. Grimm has the best shot to be a HC, but the others probably are assistants forever.

its kind of funny that this is a thread. i was just thinking about this. it might be that Gibbs doesn't want strong personalities on his coaching staff, to avoid any conflict. kind of his way or the highway type. and maybe adding Saunders is his way to adapt to the new NFL

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But his "coaching tree" as it were I think is more so comprised of former players who have gone to serve as head coaches or coordinators. I'm talking about guys like Ken Whisenhunt, Russ Grimm, Mike Tice, Greg Manusky. And then you have position coaches like Vernon Dean and Ernest Byner.

no great head coaches, some of the best assistant coaches though, dan henning was another awesome assistant coach. but really you dont have to have a great coaching tree, those are for inevators. i wouldnt call gibbs that even though he pretty much created the one back system. but as far as a head coaching tree his guys have never really been good....still hes the best damn coach man, i am sick of these players taking what hes done for them for granted, they need to win for this guy he deserves that shit.

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Coach has a decent assistant coching tree if you will, but I doubt any of the above names will pan out as a full blown HC. Grimm has the best shot to be a HC, but the others probably are assistants forever.

holchknowsbest your right the players need to man up for gibbs. but Gibbs cant alway give into there demands. These players dont deserve any breaks. Gibbs should work these guys harder. Stop this crap of them working out on their own. The skins are paying these bozos good money(mostly overpaid) there no reason why they cant work out at redskins park.

Last week on the Riggo show he was talking about Walsh and how people call him a master mind of the game (I think that was the term or something like that) and how they just call Gribbs a great coach. He then started given out stats of the two coaches careers and how Gibbs numbers are better in just about every category. He was not knocking Walshes great career but only asking why Gibbs is only considered great and Walsh a master mind.

It is because of the "West Coast Offense" that is discussed ad nausem, the iconic teams, and even more because of the iconic players (esp. Montana and Rice), which Gibbs teams did not have. I will point out, however, that Gibbs is in the Hall of Fame so I'm not sure he is slighted too much. His lustered is tarnished most, I'd say, by the 21-27 record he has since coming back. Hopefully the team can help rectify that this season.

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"Most NFL fans associate the West Coast Offense with Bill Walsh’s 49ers teams of the 1980s. But the seeds of Walsh’s system in San Francisco were planted 20 years earlier by Gillman and in a much different form. Any team that presently runs an offense that is predicated on short timing patterns is tagged with the West Coast label. But unlike Walsh, Gillman had no use for short passes. His philosophy involved a more vertical attack, similar to Mike Martz’s 'Greatest Show on Turf' offense while with the St. Louis Rams.

It was during Gillman’s days with the Chargers that San Diego State head football coach Don Coryell began frequenting the Bolts’ preseason camps with his two young assistant coaches, Joe Gibbs and Ernie Zampese. They loved what they saw of the offense and began developing it further for their Aztec teams. Coryell began adding his own innovations and building on what Gillman had started. By the time Coryell took the head coaching position for the Chargers in 1978, his scheme had become known as ‘Air Coryell.’ In nine years with the Chargers, Coryell’s offense led the NFL in passing yardage seven times.

Joe Gibbs then took the offense with him to the Washington Redskins in 1981. His tinkering with the system involved adding the bunch formation – three wide receivers lined up together, each darting off in confusing patterns – and the two- and three-tight end alignments, resulting in three Super Bowl championships."

Most NFL fans associate the West Coast Offense with Bill Walsh’s 49ers teams of the 1980s. But the seeds of Walsh’s system in San Francisco were planted 20 years earlier by Gillman and in a much different form.

I always thought Bill Walsh was a student of Paul Brown, who was the original pioneer of what we know as the "West Coast" short passing attack.

After Cal, he did a stint at Stanford before beginning his pro coaching career as an assistant with the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1966, forging a friendship with Al Davis that endured through decades of rivalry. Walsh joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 to work for legendary coach Paul Brown, who gradually gave complete control of the Bengals' offense to his assistant. Walsh built a scheme based on the teachings of Davis, Brown and Sid Gillman — and Walsh's own innovations, which included everything from short dropbacks and novel receiving routes to constant repetition of every play in practice. Though it originated in Cincinnati, it became known many years later as the West Coast offense — a name Walsh never liked or repeated...

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